"Rural arts and crafts are alive and well and arts are not the exclusive province of major cities" says Michael Fabricant having joined the ‘Rural Arts Trail’ in Hadley End, Hoar Cross, Newborough, and Yoxall over the weekend. Local artists, including painters, photographers, sculptors and writers, exhibited their crafts in a mixture of garages, farmyards, and barns while visitors drove the country lanes of Staffordshire following maps in the programme guide looking for distinctive yellow balloons which marked the site of the exhibitions. The trail took place over Saturday and Sunday, 4th and 5th September. Parking was provided in farmers’ fields and elsewhere.

"This was the first time that the Rural Arts Trail had been tried and the standard of work and the organisation behind the scenes was magnificent" says Michael. "The initiative came from Newborough Women’s Institute which demonstrated, yet again, that the W.I. in peacetime as well as in war can be as innovative and organised as any military battalion! The weather was fantastic and both exhibitors and visitors all had a great time. And needless to say, the tea and cakes were of the highest standard. I do hope they will repeat this in the future".